CELTA week 4

Quick update. Finishing tomorrow!!! We are both passing. Final session with students today - to say goodbye. Then one more class tomorrow and it is all done.

We will be laying low for a couple of days ... a lot to digest and lots of choice to make ... so we'll will be quiet and out of touch for a few more days ...

But all is well. We are (virtually) certificated teachers of English to adults!!!

CELTA week 3

OK - so we're a) still alive, and b) still on the course. It has been hectic again with all sorts of things to do. We switched classes this week so both of us had new learners to work with .... Several of our fellow student teachers are struggling and it is sad to see but with only limited time and resources it is a bit of every man for himself. We are definitely growing quickly in our skills and confidence as teachers, but just as we start to get a handle on one thing, there's three more to deal with. The assessors are tough - if anyone complains they simply remind us that we chose an intensive class and so get on with it. Teacher boot camp.
A little extra (well a lot) stress happened when some how or other Andy forgot to clear his photocopier code, and so someone used all his copies .... without any copies left (and they won't let you buy more!???!!!) he had to rely on using Evan's copies very carefully so Evan didn't run out. It may be resolved now but it certainly added another level of stress to not be able to make any handouts or overheads for his classes!!!! It is just like a reality TV show!
One of the highlights was a fellow student making a grammar mistake in a lesson while teaching a class to beginner students on 'yet' and 'just' and the like. This mistake ended up with the sentence "They have not done it in Central Park yet" being written on the board and being spoken aloud for practice by several middle-aged Japanese and Taiwanese ladies. Cue Andy and his fellow students all sitting at the back next to the assessor trying not to curl up!! Sweating bullets!! One teacher cracked and was immediately sent outside and given a talking too!!! Oh, but it was funny!!!!!

One more week and we're done! Huge assignment this weekend - spent most of today on it and will spend most of tomorrow - but if we can hang in one more week we'll be certified teachers of English as a second language..... and then ......

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"Follow your bliss" Joseph Campbell

CELTA update 2

Just finished week 2 - lots more stress and activity but everything is going fine. We both passed the week 2 assessment on written assignments (but both us had to resubmit our written papers) and with our teaching practice, and so have now moved into the next stage of the course. Teaching has become more natural now, and we are getting into the swing of teaching different lessons - reading, writing, listening and speaking. We have learned how to drill and teach correct pronunciation - all interesting but very challenging to learn, understand, begin using and be assessed on using within a day or two. Parts of this week were quite overwhelming - such as the 2 hours lesson that covered all the phonemes in the English language (the individual sounds - not letters - about 36 I think) - their symbols, how each of the sounds, and how to drill/teach each one. So now we are assessing language at this level!!!
So, it has been quite challenging, but there have been some great parts too. We are enjoying the students very much and meeting people from all over the world. We have graphic designers, businessmen, and doctors learning English from us!!! The teaching model is very much communication based - and so it is interesting in how we are taught to teach - our talking time as teachers is meant to be very limited and the students are set up by us in different ways to talk as much as possible.
Anyway, that's all we've been doing. Nothing else!! Another assignment and lesson planning this weekend, plus possibly some more grammar revision (transitive verbs and superlatives anyone?!).... but we're fine - tired, overwhelmed, but fine (and having a little fun too).

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"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined." (Thoreau)

CELTA update 1

Week 1 is done - whew!!!!
We really hit the ground running - even met students on the first day and started assessed teaching on the second day. We have both taught two lessons already - Andy is with the intermediate students and Evan is with the beginners. We have passed both sessions! Yea!

There is also a ton of English language and teacher training work - the first two days were very very stressful but we are now getting into the groove a little more now and feeling a it more confident. The pace is intense and if you got behind it would be very difficult to catch up - assignments and detailed lesson planning each night - so we are getting home about 8:30 or so.
Actually our day is a little like this - up at 5:30; leave house at 6:40 to cross into Canada just as the Nexus line opens (those Nexus cards are great!) - arrive at school about 8:15 - one hour of prep time and homework/study before classes start (things like phonology; language analysis, vocab etc) - an hour lunch then lesson feedback and assignment, teaching begins at 3:15 - 5:30 - 45 min sessions - we teach for 45 min and then observe/critique other student teachers. Then feedback and a bit more teaching and we are usually done around 6:00 - another hour to hour and a half to gather prep materials for the next day and start lesson planing - leave Vancouver around 7:15-7:30. Dinner at home and then a bit more work - practice and support to each other....

However, we have actually started to enjoy ourselves!!! The English language learners are great and really excited to be learning with us - they come from many countries - including Chile, Czech Rep, Russia, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Egypt, Iran and Spain! And we are doing OK with it too. Feels good.

Friday night was the time to relax!!!! An episode of Project Runway (aahh Becky!) and a beer.

It does feel rather like a reality TV show - the Apprentice or something - everyone running around and trying not to get sent home!!!

Send us good vibes!
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"Surviving is important; thriving is elegant" (Maya Angelou)

On Your Marks, Get Set, GO!!!

OK, seriously, there is nothing like this feeling. We want all of this so badly yet it is so scary too. Today was our final day at our jobs. We are prepping for the start of the course on Tuesday, and tomorrow will be a "retreat day" to ground and center. Yesterday, our dog walker, the son of Andy's boss, came over for orientation. This past Tuesday we did a practice run up to Vancouver. Both things went great. Colorado loves her new friend and the treats he gives her, and our Nexus passes made the border a sinch. Not to mention that the time we leave at seems to put us just ahead of Vancouver traffic... beautiful... perfect. We already have a special coffee shop right by school where we can study before class starts, and it seems we have all our ducks in a row. The Universe is clearly conspiring with us at this point, so it is all systems go! So, yeah, we are freaked out; by freaked out we mean scared and excited all at once with each emotion sort of coming in waves over the other (and with a bunch of other stuff mixed in). But it is so awesome. It's like getting ready to go on a big trip abroad only the sensations are doubled since we have no clue where we are going or when we are coming back.

Our trip to Portland with Mom and Nick was the perfect start to this adventure; a good time was had by all. Just as we predicted, it has been a bit of a snowball effect with all our plans and systems in place and just allowing them to unfold. As an FYI, this course is super intense. We will be in class for something like 130 hours over the next month, and we are told to expect 20-30 hours of homework per week on top of that, so we will be out of touch with everyone until the course finishes. We are sorry, but that is how it has to be to make this happen. We will try to do a mid-course update here on the blog. Our love to all of you. Thank you for your support in this. We are truly grateful to all of you, to ourselves, and to the Universe for all the opportunities opening up even as we type!

So... signing off for now... here we go

"Believe in Yourself and all that you are. Know that there is Something inside you that is greater than any obstacle." -Christian D. Larson

It's For Real

Emotionally, it is really hitting home that all of this is real. Yesterday was our visit to the vet to get Colorado's paperwork/ health certificate completed for travel. Both of us are feeling sad about the prospect of leaving her in England, though we know its best for all involved. It has also become increasingly clear just what a frantic pace our life has had the entire time we've lived here and how little time has actually been spent enjoying such a beautiful place. Because of this, we have made a clear decision that this is our home. This doesn't change our plans at all; it is more of a mental shift that provides us the comfort we need to step out into the great unknown. It also signifies an intention to spend more quality time here in the future enjoying the rugged beaches, beautiful trails, and funky downtown vibe.

All of that said, we are still very much looking forward to our time in England which we intend to spend 'doing' very little. Instead we want to just be; this is the space where we believe spiritual deepening can take place and our passions and bliss will be given room to reveal themselves more clearly. If we are ever to make such things as a charity project occur, we have to be very grounded in spiritual practice and knowing ourselves.

There are still many tiny details to arrange, but, in truth, the big stuff is done, and all we have to do now is allow our plans to unfold. The CELTA course will begin very soon now. We have a lovely sounding three days in Portland with Mom and Nick that we are truly looking forward to (we have vowed to do nothing preparatory so that we can begin this practice of 'just being'), and then we are on the course and off to England and beyond. It is sinking in quite quickly that it's all for real, and so we are excited and scared all at once, and that is exactly as it should be.

"There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy." - Robert Louis Stevenson

Getting closer

Few days late on this one ...
Well, we're still busy! Along with trying to work a little extra (we've both taken extra shifts this month) we have .... booked our UK flights, got further along with Colorado's travel plans to the UK, got our actual Nexus passes, studied grammar and begun working on the 46 page pre-class assignment, organized all the internet accounts, spring cleaned the computer operating system and files, and ... oh well - you get the idea. It's been busy.

However, the beginning of our next new start is in our sights - it's a month today to when we start our intensive English language teacher classes. Before then we have a trip down to Portland with Evan's mom and her partner - a nice reward to look forward to just before we start. Booking our flights seemed to further cement our plans, as did our final day notices at work!! We were very fortunate that the morning we had set aside to book the flights was the day British Airways announced a half-price air mile sale - so we scored on the flights - one of us flies for only 25,000 air miles, and the other is traveling free as we had also got awarded a companion flies for free coupon - so just the taxes to pay. This savings will go some way towards the additional expenses in shipping Colorado - we discovered on the same day she has to fly from Seattle via a pet transporter (most other airports allow you to make your own arrangements) - this will cost more but saves a lot of headache.

In the few hours of spare time, we've been enjoying the Bellingham summer - beaches, forests, and city walks. A quick side note - discovered in some occupational therapy magazines from a few months ago some articles about the Leprosy Hospital in Pokhara, Nepal. Andy visited it when we worked in Pokhara with the blind students and orphans, and Evan worked with one of the physical therapists and one of the spinal cord injury counselors, doing some massage and teaching. An occupational therapy student had gone there to do some of her clinical studies and wrote up two articles about her experiences. Interesting.

Enjoying the Walk Out Walk On book very much that we talked about a couple of entries ago after we met one of the authors. More ideas for our big picture project in a few years.

And of course, Evan is three weeks to the end of his final class in his final semester in finishing his degree....

Also saw the final Harry Potter movie, from where today's closing quote comes from ....
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"Just because it's in your mind, it doesn't mean it isn't real" (Dumbledorf (?))